PWCs Up, Boats Are Down

PWC sales outpace aluminum and fiberglass boats

New boat sales continued to decline in August, while personal watercraft sales rebounded, according to preliminary data compiled by Michigan-based Statistical Surveys.

Sales for fiberglass boats were off 5.2 percent, while aluminum sales were down 3.8 percent, based on registration data from early reporting states. The report is based on 19 states, or 46 percent of the market, and includes the big boating states of California, Florida, Michigan and Texas.

"Considering that new boat registrations are up significantly in Louisiana and Mississippi, as part of replacements for hurricane damage in 2005, the sales data in the other states is substantially below last year," said Dick DuMont, Statistical Survey's vice president/watercraft division.

Sales of fiberglass boats 15- to 30-feet dropped 10 percent in the early reporting states. For the year-to-date, sales fell 5.7 percent.

Aluminum boat sales declined 3.8 percent in August. For the year-to-date, sales are up a slight 0.8 percent.

PWC sales rose 7 percent in the month, and are up 0.9 percent for the first eight months of the year.